Driveway for magnetically lavitated vehicles

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a driveway for magnetically levitated vehicles, comprising a plurality of driveway modules ( 1 ) which are disposed along a track and are preferably provided with accessories. Each of said driveway modules ( 1 ) is fixed to a primary supporting framework ( 2 ) by means of at least one fastening device ( 4 ) that has the function of a movable bearing. The fastening device ( 4 ) comprises a supporting bearing which is made of spring steel and is detachably connected to the lower side of the module ( 1 ).

The present invention relates to a driveway for magnetically levitated vehicles according to the general class indicated in the definition of the species in claim 1.

Driveways for magnetically levitated vehicles are known in various configurations. They typically include a large number of supports anchored in a primary supporting framework and installed along a predetermined track at a height of one meter or more, and they include driveway carriers that are, e.g., approximately 12 m to approximately 62 m in length arranged on said supports. All pieces of equipment needed to operate a magnetically levitated vehicle are fixed to the carriers, e.g., stator cores, lateral guide rails, slide rails, and the like. When steel carriers are used, in order to enable the necessary temperature-induced expansions to occur, said carriers are supported in a fixed manner at a center part and at its ends on associated supports in a movable manner that depends on the type of movable bearing. The movable bearings are realized as elastomer-Teflon sliding bearings, for example, which are installed in a manner that allows them to be replaced easily using screws (e.g., ZEV-Glas, Ann. 105, 1981, No. 7/8, pp 205-215 and DE 34 04 061 C1).

In addition, vehicles of the general class described initially are known; the driveway components of said vehicles are composed of steel and have relatively short lengths of, e.g., approximately 6 m or less, down to 2 m, and are intended for “ground-level” operation of magnetically levitated vehicles in particular. Driveway modules of this type formed the basis of the request for bids for the ground-level components of the Berlin-Hamburg magnetically levitated driveway, for example; they are anchored at their ends in a foundation built on the ground, the ends being anchored with the aid of fastening devices containing the supporting bearings made of steel, and said ends being fastened to the underside of the modules. The known supporting bearings are composed of approximately 1 m-high crossties or dividers which fulfill the necessary support function in the vertical direction and the function of a movable bearing in the longitudinal direction of the driveway. For this purpose, the supporting bearings are made of the same material as the carrier, i.e., construction steel, and are integrally joined with the modules by welding.

Due to the constructional method described, the application of supporting bearings of this type is limited. If the supporting bearings are located at an adequate height of a meter or more, they can absorb the stresses in the longitudinal direction which occur due to temperature-induced expansions of the driveway, and the vertical loads which occur during operation of the magnetically levitated vehicles. In the interest of locating the driveway as close to ground level as possible, the shorter the configuration of the supporting bearings is, however, the less favorable are the stress ratios of the deformations which inevitably occur as a result of temperature fluctuations. With the desired low construction heights of less than one meter and the known constructional method, this results, in the end, in plastic deformations of the supporting bearings and in fractures in the region of the welding points in particular. Reducing the cross sections of the supporting bearings in order to increase their bending property would not change this by much; instead, it could possibly result in a level of stress on the supporting bearings that would be impermissible for operation of the magnetically levitated vehicles. Adding to this is the fact that, if a supporting bearing becomes defective, the entire associated carrier would have to be replaced, since repairs cannot be performed on-site.

Finally, driveways for magnetically levitated vehicles are known (DE 198 08 622 C2), with which the individual modules are not fastened directly to a primary supporting framework in the form of a foundation built on the ground, but instead are fixed to a primary supporting framework which is mounted on supports which are supported on the ground. The modules, made of concrete in this case, are provided with openings on their undersides which accommodate fastening devices having the function of a fixed or movable bearing. The detailed configuration of said fastening devices that allows them to function as a fixed or movable bearing cannot be determined from this known proposed design.

Based on this, the problem of the present invention is to design the driveway of the general class initially described such that it is suited for installing the driveway modules on the primary supporting framework without increasing the tendency to break, and to enable defective supporting bearings to be replaced.

The characterizing features of claim 1 serve to attain this object.

The present invention has the advantage that, due to the properties of spring steel, the supporting bearing made of spring steel can compensate for the inevitable deformations of the modules that occur even with low construction heights and can absorb the stresses that occur as a result without the risk of breaking. It has also been proven that the forces which occur perpendicularly to the driveway during operation of the magnetically levitated vehicles can be fully absorbed by the supporting bearings made of spring steel without incurring an impermissible risk of buckling or compromising the driving properties. The detachable connection of the supporting bearing with the module also ensures that the two can be easily separated from each other, which greatly simplifies the replacement of a defective supporting bearing as compared with the integral and/or welded versions.

Further advantageous features of the present invention result from the subclaims.

The present invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments in combination with the attached drawing.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a typical driveway for magnetically levitated vehicles composed of a plurality of modules;

FIG. 2 shows a larger-scale, perspective view of a module according to FIG. 1, and its fastening devices;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a transverse and longitudinal sectional view through the module according to FIG. 2 in the region of the fastening device;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic longitudinal sectional view through a second exemplary embodiment of the fastening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic longitudinal sectional view through a third exemplary embodiment of the fastening device according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a bearing scheme for a module according to FIGS. 1 through 7.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of two variants of a driveway for magnetically levitated vehicles. The driveway contains a plurality of driveway modules 1, which are arranged in tandem in the longitudinal direction (arrow x); said driveway also has the pieces of equipment needed to operate the magnetically levitated vehicles but which are not shown individually, such as stator cores, lateral guide rails, slide surfaces, etc. The length of each module 1 measured in the x direction is 6.192 m, for example, while its width is 2.80 m, for instance, depending on the particular type of vehicle.

Each module 1 is supported on a primary supporting framework, which can be individual concrete foundations (FIG. 1, bottom) built on the ground, a concrete foundation extending continually in the x direction (FIG. 1, top), or a driveway carrier, for example, which itself is supported by supports on the ground or a foundation built on the ground. For the purposes of the present invention, it does not matter in principle how the primary supporting framework is configured in a specific case. Even when the primary supporting framework is different, the same constructional method with components that are the same or are adapted to the course of the track is always used for the driveway module.

Magnetic driveways are known from publications ZEV-Glas, Ann. 105 (1981), No. 7/8, pp 205 through 215; DE 298 09 580 U1 and EP 1 048 784 A1, for example. Said publications are therefore made part of the subject of the present disclosure via reference.

The support of modules 1 on primary carrier 2 takes place according to the present invention with the aid of fastening devices 3 and 4. A fastening device 3 located essentially in the center of the module thereby fulfills the function of a fixed bearing, while fastening devices 4 provided at the two ends of the module have the function of movable bearings. As a result, modules 1 are held stationary in the center part, while their sections extending away from the center and toward the two sides undergo the usual temperature-induced expansions and contractions.

According to the present invention, fastening devices 4 have supporting bearings in the form of band-shaped or rod-shaped elements which are composed of spring steel and are yielding in the selected x direction (FIG. 1), but, in the y direction perpendicular thereto, i.e., perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 1, they are substantially rigid. As a result, fastening devices 4 serve not only to fasten modules 1 to primary supporting framework 2, they also support the parts of module 1 coupled thereto in such a manner that they are displaceable relative to the primary supporting framework.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention considered to be the best so far (FIGS. 2 through 4), each supporting bearing contains two band-shaped bearing elements 5 and 6 arranged in parallel with each other, the bearing elements being designed as leaf springs capable of bending in the x direction, depending on the type. Bearing elements 5 and 6 bear via top ends of diametrically opposed sides against plane surfaces, which are configured in yz planes (FIGS. 3 and 4)—arranged perpendicularly to the x direction—on mounting rails 7. Mounting rails 7 are integrally mounted, as crossties, on the ends of module 1 and project therefrom essentially vertically downward in the z direction, so that the wide sides of bearing elements 5, 6 are also arranged substantially perpendicularly to the x direction. The lower ends of bearing elements 5, 6 bear against plane surfaces via both sides in a corresponding manner, the plane surfaces being applied to a mounting rail 8 a, which is provided at the upper end of a fastening anchor 8. Fastening elements in the form of mounting screws 9 and 10 and bolts 11 and 12 screwed thereon serve to fasten bearing elements 5 and 6 to mounting rails 7 and 8 a. The arrangement according to FIGS. 3 and 4 is configured such that the two bearing elements 5, 6, in the fastened state, are arranged in parallel and in an essentially congruent manner. In addition, the two bearing elements 5, 6 are advantageously made of the same spring steel and are provided with the same dimensions.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the exemplary embodiment, at the two longitudinal ends of module 1, two fastening devices 4 are each provided with one pair of bearing elements 5, 6, all of which are yielding in the x direction. In contrast, at least one further fastening device 3 located in a center region of module 1 (refer to FIG. 1) includes at least one largely rigid bearing element 14, which is fastened to the underside of module 1 with screws and bolts in a manner similar to bearing elements 5, 6, and functions as a fixed bearing. In a manner similar to bearing elements 5, 6, bearing element 14 can be fixed to the underside in a detachable manner with the aid of mounting screws, which are not shown.

Plate-shaped spacers and/or spacer sheets 15 are preferably located between mounting rails 7 and bearing elements 5, 6. They serve to permit springy motions of bearing elements 5, 6 without their contacting mounting rails 7 or deforming around their lower ends. On the other hand, relatively short spacers 15 can increase the size of the lever arms of bearing elements 5, 6, which improves the spring properties.

Module 1 can be mounted on primary supporting framework 2 made of concrete as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by providing recesses 16 on the top side of said primary supporting framework and at the points where fastening anchors 8 come to rest, the recesses accommodating part of the lower ends of fastening anchors 8 and being filled with (secondary) mortar 17 at the latest after module 1 has been installed on primary supporting framework 2. The entire module 1 is then arranged, using bearing elements 5, 6 and 14, at a preselected distance of, e.g., 0.2 m to 1 m above the surface of primary supporting framework 2.

An alternative exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this case, a fastening device 4 a has supporting bearings that are provided not with band-shaped bearing elements, bu rather a plurality of rod-shaped bearing elements 18 in the form of rods having a square cross section. Bearing elements 18 are mounted on the undersides of modules 1 in a cruciform pattern, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, and are secured to primary supporting framework 2 in a not-shown manner (e.g., analogous to FIGS. 3 and 4). Bearing elements 18 are composed of flexural members, for example, which are flexible at least in the x or y direction and practically in all directions transversely to their longitudinal axes when round cross sections are used. They then essentially perform the function of floating bearings, which can absorb forces in a plurality of directions, such as those that occur during temperature fluctuations. The number of bearing elements 18 used per fastening device 4 a depends in particular on the materials selected and the desired distance of modules 1 from primary supporting framework 2.

FIG. 7 shows a further exemplary embodiment according to the invention for fastening modules 1 to primary supporting framework 2. In this variant, a fastening device 4 b has a supporting bearing in the form of a band-shaped bearing element 19 which corresponds to bearing elements 5 and 6 in FIGS. 2 through 4, which said bearing element 19 is connected in a fixed manner at its lower end with a connecting flange 20. Bearing element 19 is provided with a corresponding connecting flange 21 at its upper end. In addition, corresponding connecting flanges 22 and 23 located at the particular fastening sites are fixed, e.g., by welding or secondary mortar, to the underside of module 1 and to the top side of primary supporting framework 2. Then, it is only necessary to first fasten bearing elements 19 to primary supporting framework 2 using flanges 20 and with the aid of mounting screws 24 extending through said flanges, then to place modules 1 with their flanges 22 on flanges 21 and, finally, to connect the two flanges 21, 22 using mounting screws 25 extending through them. The advantage of this is that modules 1 and bearing elements 19 are connected with primary supporting framework 2 in an easily detachable manner and can be easily removed and replaced, if necessary. This variant also offers the advantage that, by inserting shims between flanges 21, 22, it is easy to align the individual modules with the track and in the region of the joints without misalignment on primary supporting framework 2.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 5 and 6 as well, flanges 26, 27 corresponding to flanges 21, 22 can be provided to detachably connect bearing elements 18 with modules 1 using mounting screws 28. It is also clear that bearing elements 18 and 19 can also be equipped at their ends with other fastening elements which are configured in accordance with FIGS. 2 and 4, for example, the fastening elements being easily fastened to modules 1 and primary supporting frameworks 2 and easily detached therefrom, if necessary.

In an underside view of module 1, FIG. 8 shows a schematic depiction of one of the many possible arrangements of fastening devices 3, 4, 4 a and 4 b for fastening modules 1 to primary supporting framework 2. The action of various fastening devices 3, 4, 4 a and 4 b is indicated using different markings. In particular, line 29 indicates the function of a movable bearing effective in the x direction, line 30 indicates the function of a movable bearing effective in the y direction, cross 31 indicates the function of a fixed bearing, and circle 32 indicates the function of a floating bearing described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The various types of fastening devices can be installed at selected points on module 1 as necessary. In addition, bearings 30 and 32 can also usually be eliminated entirely.

A substantial advantage of the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 7 is that modules 1 and bearing elements 14 can be made of a material which is sufficiently rigid for static purposes, while spring elements 5, 6, 18 and 19 can be made of a spring steel that allow temperature-induced expansions and contractions to occur. A further advantage resulting therefrom is that fastening devices which are very short in the z direction and, therefore, low installation heights for modules 1 above primary supporting frameworks 2 can be realized. Finally, a substantial advantage is that redundance results due to the use of bearing elements 5, 6 in FIGS. 2 through 4 in pairs. Even if a bearing element 5, 6 of one pair breaks, adequate bearing capacity remains for emergency operation. The same applies for the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 5 and 6.

Movable bearings effective in the y direction are not provided in the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 2 through 4. They can be eliminated if the expected temperature-induced expansions and/or contractions are relatively minor, e.g., due to small module widths of 1 m, for example. It is also clear that, instead of using bearing elements or leaf springs 5, 6 in pairs, it is also possible to use just one bearing element or more than two bearing elements per bearing site.

An advantage of the present invention compared to integral bearings is that the supporting bearings can be replaced if any type of defect occurs, without damaging associated module 1 and therefore needing to replace it. Exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 2 through 4, 5 and 6 and 7 enable particularly easy replacement in particular when mounting screws 10 and 24, bolts 12 and flanges 23 are easily accessible from the outside, i.e., they do not disappear in secondary concrete or the like. In this case, one only needs to loosen screws 10 and/or 24, and 9 and/or 25, 28, remove the defective supporting bearings, and install new ones. With the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 5 through 7 it would also be possible, after loosening mounting screws 25, 28, to first remove associated module 1, remove the defective supporting bearings and/or bearing elements 18, 19, e.g., by breaking secondary mortar 16 used in a manner similar that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, install new fastening devices 4 a, 4 b, and, finally, to connect previously-removed module 1 with the new fastening devices.

The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown, which said exemplary embodiments can be modified in numerous ways. This applies, for example, for the design of modules 1 and primary supporting frameworks 2. In particular, it does not matter whether modules 1 are fastened to a primary supporting framework 2—using fastening devices 4, 4 a and 4 b—in the form of a foundation built on the ground, or in the form of a supporting structure which itself is supported by supports or the like on the ground or on a foundation built on the ground. Fastening devices 4, 4 a and 4 b could be used in a similar manner to fasten modules 1 in the form of supporting elements on which further modules—with the pieces of equipment installed—are fastened with the aid of corresponding or different fastening devices. The expressions “module” and “primary supporting framework” are therefore intended to be understood in the most general sense within the framework of the present invention. The form and number of supporting bearings provided in the specific case does not matter, in principle. Furthermore, instead of mounting screws 9, 10, 24, 25 and 28 described, it is also possible to use other fastening elements in the form of bolts secured with pins, rivets, or the like. Finally, it is also understood that the various features can also be used in combinations other than those presented and described here. 

1. A driveway for magnetically levitated vehicles, comprising a plurality of driveway modules (1) situated along a track, each of the driveway modules being fixed to a primary supporting framework (2) by means of at least one fastening device (4, 4 a, 4 b) having the function of a movable bearing, whereby the first fastening device (4, 4 a, 4 b) contains a supporting bearing which is composed of steel and is connected with the underside of the module (1), wherein the supporting bearing is made of spring steel and is detachably connected to the module (1).
 2. The driveway as recited in claim 1, wherein the supporting bearing contains at least one rod-shaped bearing element (18).
 3. The driveway as recited in claim 2, wherein the supporting bearing contains at least one band-shaped bearing element (5, 6; 19).
 4. The driveway as recited in claim 1, wherein the fastening device (4 a, 4 b) contains a first connecting flange (22, 27) and a second connecting flange (21, 26) on the underside of the module (1), the connecting flange being mounted at one end of the supporting bearing associated with the module (1), and wherein the two connecting flanges (22, 27; 21, 26) are detachably connected with each other.
 5. The driveway as recited in claim 1, wherein the supporting bearing contains two band-shaped bearing elements (5, 6) arranged in parallel with each other.
 6. The driveway as recited in claim 3, wherein the module (1) is provided, on its underside, with a mounting rail (7) projecting from said underside, and first ends of the bearing elements (5, 6) rest against the mounting rail (7) and are detachably secured to same.
 7. The driveway as recited in claim 3, wherein the primary supporting framework is equipped, on its top side, with one of these projecting mounting rails (8 a) and second ends of the bearing elements (5, 6) rest against the mounting rail (8 a) and are detachably secured to same.
 8. The driveway as recited in claim 6, wherein spacers (15) are arranged between the mounting rails (7) and the bearing elements (5, 6).
 9. The driveway as recited in claim 5, wherein the module (1) is supported, on the primary supporting framework (2), at its ends pointing in the driving direction by two first fastening devices (4, 4 a, 4 b) each, the fastening devices being arranged such that they are separated transversely to the driving direction and are configured in accordance with one of the claims 1 through
 8. 10. The driveway as recited in claim 9, wherein the first fastening devices (4, 4 a, 4 b) perform their function as loose bearings either parallel or transversely to the driving direction.
 11. The driveway as recited in claim 1, wherein mounting screws (9, 10; 24, 25; 28) are provided for making the detachable connections.
 12. The driveway as recited in claim 1, wherein the modules (1) are also fixed to the primary supporting framework (2) by means of at least one second fastening device (3) each having the function of a fixed bearing, and the second fastening device (3) contains a supporting bearing (14) detachably connected to at least the underside of the module (1). 